Hawke or Opticron 10xs? (1 Viewer)

Hi All,
not having the biggest budget in the world, I have got my options down to two pairs of bins and would love some feedback from those whom have tried either of them, preferably both?

The two I speak of are: Hawke Frontier ED 10x43s or Opticron Countryman 10x42s

Thanks for any feedback,

As usual I'm more familiiar with the 8x42s than the 10x, but one thing is quite obvious, they are very good but very different binoculars.

The Hawke Fontier ED has proved to be a very popular Chinese made binocular offering a fashionably wide field of view, a dual hinge and ED glass. The Countryman HD is Japanese and by comparison relatively unsophisticated with a more average field of view, no ED glass, more field curvature and a more traditional single hinge. The dielectric prism coatings of the Opticron I think offer a slightly richer colour and deeper contrast than the Hawke, perhaps more comparable with the Sapphire ED.

It you were into totting up scores I suspect the Hawke might be a clear winner, but in practice I find it a bit cumbersome to use, and I have found the distortion in the view a little disturbing. (It seems I might be a bit unusual in that regard). On balance I just like using the Countryman HD more than the Hawke, but I'm sure many would disagree.

David

Thanks for the feedback David.

Well in the end I went for the Hawke Frontier ED 8x43s. I have always been a 10x man but I thought I would give the 8s a try as I do a lot of my birding in or around woodland these days. I will probably write a review on them after a couple of weeks.

Yea another one for Hawke.

I'm a bit if a fan since having owning various Hawke for a number of years not all of which were spectacular mind you so I've kind of been keeping with the Sapphire 8x43 this last few years and recently Hawke gave me a new replacement for my old knackered focus model. Makes you feel better about a brand when they do stuff like that and Hawke don't seem to mess about and have really good communication about any issue.

I still have my little 8x25 Frontier PC also and have to admit it's actually still quite an amazing little compact. It really can do low winter light pretty well compared to my other compacts but the big Sapphire is kind of pro level in this regard and I expect the Frontier is something similar.

This latest Hawke Sapphire I have is sharper, brighter and shows more & better colour than the old one but it still has a little edge softness and bottom cresent glare and some light reflecting around the edges of the oculars but if/when they fix these things I recon it'll be a 10 out of 10 whereas now it's probably 8.5 ish which is probably pretty accurate if I take a 1/2 mark off for each foible but I may not even have one of their very latest models which may already have improved on these things? Anyhow this one they sent me is pretty super but I was still happy with the old one even with the wobbly slack focus it had which they deemed a right off so still I suppose lucky for me to get a perfect new specimen with a few enhancements over the older one.

I just really like a lot the way Hawke have treated any issues I have had with any of the bins of theirs I owned. I don't see me needing them again for a long time though if ever with this newer Sapphire as the quality of everything about it is very good. Even shining a torch down the barrels reveals not a single spec of dust anywhere.

My original Sapphire was number 29 if I remember correctly so very early and I see they have been continually progressing with improving their models so obviously serious with their intentions of becoming a leading brand to cover all pockets.

Incidentally I had originally ordered a 10x way back but as soon as I received the 8x43 by mistake and looked through it I new I wanted the 8x instead and I've never looked back.

Congrats with your Hawke you will be happy with them. I've had a pair 8x43 for 3 years now and they are great for the price. Only minor problem are their eyecups they did make the eye relief shorter than the 18 mm because they are high. I have had no problem with flare and would have made hawke my new 10x43 binoculars if it weren't for the short eye relief in all Hawke 10x.

Thanks for the replies.

Well they arrived this morning, and I must say, they are so good. I am just waiting for the wife to get her act together so we can go birding and walk the pooch too at the same time. Best bins I have had since I sold my BNs

I agree with David. Both are very good. I think I prefer the Countryman HD but I don't think you will be disappointed with the Hawke. Enjoy!